In the mooring of boats and ships, the prior art has been to use a rigid arm to be pivotally connected to a dock and the other end having a connector to be connected to the boat or ship for docking and mooring purposes. The rigid connecting arm is difficult to attach to a boat, while the boat is violently rocking in turbulent water. Most of the prior art devices consist of latching mechanisms at the connector end which would appear to be difficult to attach to a boat in rough waters and appears to create a risk of possibly smashing the rigid arm mechanism through the hull of the boat or create the possibility of injuring the person trying to connect the mechanism in rough waters. Another draw back in the prior art is that in incorporating a rigid arm mechanism, you must reach well out from the dock in order to connect the mechanism. This may create a possible dangerous situation for the operator of the equipment as well. Another disadvantage of the prior art is that it does not allow sufficient movement of the attachment arm to accommodate the rise and fall of the water level in bodies of water.
Another common method in the prior art for mooring boats along the sides of docks and piers is tying the boat with ropes and preventing the boat from smashing or hitting against the dock by having a bumper or a rubber tire fixed between the boat and dock. A disadvantage of this method is that the constant movement of the boat will stretch or loosen the mooring ropes along the boat thus moving the boat to a position where it is not properly protected by the bumpers. Furthermore, the mooring ropes usually deteriorate over a period of time which creates the possibility that the ropes may break thus allowing the boat to drift away from the dock. Furthermore, incorporating the mooring methods of the prior art, as above, if the rope begins to deteriorate and the bumpers are disconnected from the boat, the boat could possibly be damaged by making hard contact with the dock.
The present invention in a preferred embodiment overcomes the disadvantages by providing a collapsible member in a boat mooring device or the like that can become rigid upon applying tension thereto and can become resilient upon relieving the tension thereupon.